VAIL, Colorado — The last time I sat down to write about my adventures and experiences in Argentina I was still in the south of Patagonia and living out the first part of this extended trip. This trip has been broken into several sections by the sheer nature of Argentina's geography.

As I mentioned in the last article, Marisa and I were not quite done with Patagonia, Villa La Angostura or our restaurant, El Cucharon. The ski season was still winding down and the closing of that mountain-top refuge still needed to be done.

Funny to think a ski season just wrapped on this side of the world and Vail is just rolling out its global red carpet. My fingers are crossed with you for a great snow year, by the way.

We have now completed a season in Patagonia and shut down the restaurant until the next ski season starting in June. Closing down this mountain-top refuge was what I presume the trappers that built it must have gone through many years ago before leaving on expeditions.

We had to do more than simply close the door behind us. We had to batten down the hatches, as if the harsh conditions would continue and without us there to help maintain the place, we would come back to ruins. Unfortunately we have been told by the previous owners that this refuge, when abandoned, has a tendency deteriorate and also be looted by the locals over the summer if not completely secured.

Like any country with a large, lower-income population, theft is a problem, so we did our best to prevent the potentially inevitable.

Grand good-bye

We begin the second part of our adventure with the job of developing the Web site for our new company, www.toursthroughargentina.com, and forming business relationships during our travels. Enjoying the very locations, adventures, activities and hotels firsthand is the only true way for us to be able to recommend and suggest vacations throughout Argentina to our friends and clients.

We will be enjoying and experiencing these awesome places in order to make experienced recommendations to clients in the future — and even now as the flow of friends from the U.S. has already begun. This has to be the best and most effective way to compile information for this business and we are excited to do it.

We had decided to stay in Vila La Angostura for at least a week after closing to truly enjoy some of the wonderful outdoors and say some proper good-byes to our new friends. Of course, these good-byes would involve some drinking and, more importantly, some of the world famous asados.

The tradition of receiving or saying good-bye to a friend or family member by having an asado is as old as the mountains of Patagonia. The asado is a form of barbecue that ritualizes the act of preparing the hot coals and the world-renowned beef of Argentina. The menu generally entails three types of sausages, several special cuts of meat and, if you're lucky, a side of cordero (lamb).

Asados are always accompanied by great Argentine wines from the wine country of Mendoza, which, incidentally, is where we are headed next. The wines of Mendoza are also world famous and have recently begun to show up in the U.S., not only in restaurants in all over Vail but even on many of your dining tables at home.

Wine country

Noteworthy, is the day spent boating on the Lake Nahuel Huapi with a new friend, Sebastian Cafici, who had rented us his breathtaking restaurant-turned-home with views of this same lake. This was also done in honor of my 40th birthday, which made the day even more special.

Although I did miss my family back home and close friends in Vail on this milestone day, I was comforted with the thought that all were still very much a part of my life. Marisa made it special with a champagne toast accompanied with Patagonia cheeses, smoked sausages and much more on a secluded island in the middle of the lake. All this came after a full day of exploring the hidden beaches and famous water falls all around this, the largest lake in the Patagonian Lake District.

Our journey as I mentioned now takes us north to the wine country of Mendoza and the richly historic region of Cordoba, Argentina. I will do my best to describe the highlights of this infamous region for the wine lover in each of you and I will also raise a glass to the idea of a great snow year in Vail, and great friends back home enjoying it.

So until the next time we meet here, enjoy the excitement of the new ski year, the promise of prosperous months to come and lets all hope for a strong New Year in Vail and across the US.